Bonnie Blake, whose legal name is John Chaney, passed away this month at the age of 96. Blake has owned nearly every building along the 7100 block of South Broadway over the course of her life. The last building she parted with housed her antique store and several apartments, including one she long occupied. She first walked into that building in the 1940s. It was a bar at the time, and she was there to go dancing.
Bonnie Blake outside of her antique store in 2021. Geoff Story.
Sandwiched between LGBTQ mainstays Hummel’s and Bar PM, many of us were relieved when she kept the building “in the family” by selling to Bar PM for their expansion a few years ago. On Sunday, August 17th, friends will gather in that very place to celebrate the life of a beloved figure of the drag scene since the 1950s, known as “the Queen of Country” long before the St. Louis LGBT History Project recognized her as “The World’s Oldest Performing Drag Queen.”
Filmmaker Geoff Story has been Bonnie’s documentarian, handler, paparazzo and dear friend for the past eight years.
“Somehow it’s been eight years since I met John Chaney at his antique store on Broadway. It would be another month before I would meet Bonnie. My original intention was to interview John for a different documentary, but I soon realized Bonnie deserved her own story,” Story said. “That August, in 2018, Bonnie turned 89. We filmed the Broads of Broadway birthday show at Hummel’s, which honored both Bonnie Blake and Candy James. TJ Ingrassia and Zac Coleman were behind the camera and I produced and directed. My friend Kirsten handled model releases. Everyone chipped in to make the night special. I recall Dawn Hummel or someone at the bar even hanging a disco ball for us to add a little sparkle. It was truly magical. Everyone shined that night.”
The celebration of life will begin at 2:00pm. Bar PM owners James and Chad have generously provided the Bar PM event space. Friends and family will share remembrances and Story will be screening select scenes of the documentary he’s been working on since 2018. There will be a dessert spread, and drinks and refreshments will be sold at the bar.
The entrance to Bar PM is at 7109 South Broadway.
It is a testament to this community that Bonnie Blake enjoyed adoring audiences well into her nineties, and that she was loved and cared for until the very end. Please join us on August 17th as we celebrate her remarkable life.
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Bonnie Blake in House of Villadiva. Chris Andoe
Virtual drag shoot of the Broads of Broadway during Covid. Geoff Story
Old friends Candy James and Bonnie Blake. Geoff Story.
Geoff Story, Ms. Jennifer James, and Bonnie Blake. Courtesy of Geoff Story
Bonnie Blake. Geoff Story.
Bonnie Blake. Geoff Story.
